Our Training Day has been a success. It is the third edition so far, with the same ingredients as before. The goal is to get sea kayakers, whatever their skills, level, age or gender, together for safety training. Again, we’ve seen both experienced paddlers train with the less experienced and this works very well. For the newcomers it’s ideal because they can learn things the right way from the start. For the more experienced paddlers among us it’s also a good way to correct the little mistakes, or refine their skills. We chose the canal at the Westhoek Marina because it allows us to train a larger group, while everybody stays in the immediate vicinity. Perfect to keep an eye out for everyone, give feed-back or for the participants to ask questions. In the morning we highlighted the theoretical side, we explained some important safety rules, talked about equipment and the good use of it. We explained, with the help of some videos, how people can rescue themselves after a capsize, how they can rescue another paddler after a capsize. During the afternoon we’ve convert all those things into practice. We’ve got the permission to launch some distress flares and pyrotechnics. Lessons are learned, never trust on one or two flares if your life depends on it. Better to have some more on board. Many thanks to the Waterway Police for their presence during the demo. Thanks to the people of the Westhoek Marina for the venue! This day would not have been possible without the help of those working behind the scenes, so a big thanks to those! Again, it was a true pleasure working with such motivated and responsive people.

For the third and probably the last time I was asked by the Cervo Go photographers team to join in on a so called light painting session. We made arrangements with instructor Fanny, for a meeting with her team at Nieuwpoort harbour. Light painting is photographing a moving light with a longer shutter time; the effect is a long, bright line in one picture. The camera has to be positioned on a tripod because it may not move, not even a bit. This year the challenge was to get the kayaker also in the picture, the use of the camera flash makes this possible. Several try outs were made just before dark, just to get thing perfectly right. Trajectory, distance and communication were key to allow the photographers to make their perfect photo. There was a light strip attached to the paddle, which makes those graceful and colourful lines in the photos. The video shows the setup and how it is done, at the end there are a few pictures included, just to show the result of the hard work. Again, it was a true pleasure to work with passionate people. It is really great to see the result of the cooperation between photographer and sea kayaker.